Nike AIR: 3D Printing the Future of Athletic Footwear

For the past decade, Nike has been taking footwear far beyond function. 

Through subversive engineering, futuristic design and technological innovation the manufacturer is creating performance-enhancing works of art, tailored to the idiosyncrasies of the world’s elite athletes. 

This is project AIR, which stands for Athlete Imagined Revolution, a collaborative process between Nike’s dedicated design and manufacturing team and 13 global athletes. Among these athletes are football player Kylian Mbappé, basketball player Victor Wembanyama and track and field sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson.

Tailoring their creations to these athletes and exploring their conception of the future of AIR, the Nike team used generative AI and cutting-edge techniques to create a collection of mind-bending, innovative 3D-printed footwear.

"Our mastery of our generative tools allows us to hear athletes with a specificity that's unmatched,” says Roger Chen, VP of NXT, Digital Production Creation at Nike.

Operating out of the LeBron James Innovation Center, known as the epicentre for advanced creation at Nike’s World Headquarters in Oregon, the project builds on a legacy of additive manufacturing experimentation.

Nike began experimenting with additive manufacturing in 2013, releasing the Nike Vapour Laser Talon, the first-ever football boot built using the method. But it was only in 2016 that the manufacturer formally invested in the process, partnering with information technology firm HP. 

Project AIR was first revealed last year in April during ‘Nike On Air’, a spectacular 3-day, multi-million dollar showcase of its proprietary footwear technology. Located at the Palais Brongniart in Paris, this event featured an immersive museum experience that showcased the powerful legacy and ambitious future of Nike AIR.

At this event Nike revealed the new Pegasus Premium, its biggest breakthrough since the AlphaFly super-shoe system of speed and its innovative VaporMax line. 

Releasing in spring of this year, the shoe features an air unit that is sculpted from the forefoot to the heel, contoured to carry a runner’s power efficiently from their heel strike to their toe-off. According to Kathy Gomez, VP of NXT Footwear at Nike, it is this mastery of air that sets the manufacturer apart.

“AIR is Nike’s separator in the footwear industry — no one can create cushioning innovations like we can,” she says.

“In running, when we combine AIR with components like midfoot plates and with platforms like our proprietary foams, we create superior systems for performance.”

‘Nike On Air’ was part of Nike’s big Paris Olympics push, inviting 40 elite athletes to the event, including tennis legend Serena Williams, and flying in 400 media professionals, marketplace partners and creators. The company spent more on last year's Olympics than any other, investing US$1bn in marketing and product launches. 

Nike is operating in an increasingly crowded market at a time of global economic stagnation, with 2023 its most challenging fiscal year in more than two decades. Standing out and providing new forms of value that make products a worthy investment is paramount in this climate.

With competitors New Balance, Under Armour and Adidas all leveraging 3D printing for product development, Nike has accelerated its adoption and augmented it through AI.

On the footwear and soccer apparel side this has been a marked success, with sales on the uptick. Project AIR brought a potent sense of awe for the future, which according to John Hoke, Chief Innovation Officer at Nike, was very much the intention.

"For these prototypes to be successful, they must stir emotions," he says.

"They must evoke a sense of awe for what lies just beyond the horizon, an optimism for the future.” 

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